An Androgynous Buddha at the Shanghai Museum

Don't miss the room of Buddha sculptures when visiting the Shanghai Museum in China.

Navigating the dozens of halls of the Shanghai Museum—the building in the heart of People’s Square that vaguely resembles a dumpling steamer—is daunting at best. If you don’t have much time to wander, make sure to check out the room of Buddha sculptures. Seemingly neither male nor female, many of the Buddha statues there (like this one) took on an androgynous form when the original Indian male version mixed with the Daoist goddesses on the Silk Road. (201 Renmin Dadao, near Huangpi Bei Lu)